Yesterday, I entered the Florida panhandle. With the panhandle came the foothills of the Appalachian range, rows upon rows of reforested longleaf pine trees, a fair share of big trucks with hunting gear, and lots of rain.
The hills started around mile 100 yesterday, and stayed consistent all the way until I called it a day at 138 miles. I pulled up at the side of the road and nestled my tent next to a property fence. This morning, I met Dennis, another touring cyclist who has been riding around the country since August 2010. He has seen quite a bit, and was great to talk to. Unfortunately, some bad luck befell him as he had lost his wallet only the day before.
We went our separate ways in anticipation of a tornado warning and lightning storms. *In fact, I am online right now and am interested to find that the aftermath of the tornado leaves me with a flash flood warning for the rest of the day.* So, I rode west through Tallahassee and through the biggest forest in Florida, the Apalachicola National Forest. Pine trees get repetitive, especially when you are in a full-on shower. I have never seen such heavy rain back in Mass. Anyway, I survived, as you can see.
Now, I am in Blountstown, a small main street town on the road to Pensacola. I have 150 or so miles to go, and I will probably do another 50 of those today. On another particularly remarkable note, I passed a small swamp about 2 hours ago that was virtually stacked with alligators. I saw at least twelve! I suppose they wanted to get near the road for some sunlight, as the rain cooled it down to about 60 degrees.
So, I will leave you for another day.
-Steve
Trailing The Sun 
Keep on trucking and don’t let the alligators bite you on the a–. Gramp Jennings.
Still reading to keep up with your progress. Glad that you survived the storms.